As born again, Spirit filled believers, serving God should be a pleasure. God wants us to serve him; not out of obligation or necessity but with delight. This is so important that Jesus had to tell His disciples at His ascension that they would be empowered to be His witnesses after receiving the Holy Spirit.
What Jesus meant was that the Holy Spirit would empower us to serve God. It is clear therefore that after salvation and baptism in the Holy Spirit, God wants us to serve Him. However, what does it mean to serve God? How do we serve Him? Why should we serve Him and what are the benefits of serving God? Let’s take a look through scripture for answers to these questions.
What it means to Serve God
In our message on the Gifts and Calling of God, we saw that God has given each of us gifts. These gifts are an endowment of God that enable us carry out specific tasks with ease. We also saw that the Calling of God is the purpose he created us to fulfill. The gifts God has given us are to be used to fulfill the calling of God on our lives; whatever it may be.
Serving God therefore is using the gifts and abilities we have been given to glorify God. In the book of Matthew, the bible says:
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16
So, whether we are serving God in our Church choir, in Ministry, Business or as Students, what we do should glorify our Father in heaven.
How to Serve God
In 1 Corinthians 4, the bible explains the mentality we should have when we serve God:
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” – 1 Corinthians 4:7
What the Apostle Paul was saying in this scripture was that everything we have has been given to us by God; including our gifts and calling. As such, we should not be puffed up with pride but rather give glory to God and use what He has given us to serve Him.
If we will have this mentality, we will see serving God as an honor and privilege.
That being said, here are some practical ways we can serve God:
- Serving God with our gifts in Church: We can use our gifts and talents in the House of God so that other believers are blessed. An example of this is singing in the Choir, using our technical or administrative abilities, etc.
- Discovering and pursuing the Calling of God: As we mentioned earlier, God has given everyone a purpose. He however expects us to discover what it is and pursue it. Doing this is serving God and brings glory to Him.
- Acts of Kindness and Service to others: Sometimes, seemingly little things can go a long way. For example, lending a helping a colleague at work, giving money to someone in need or helping our parents around the house or our children. These things, though little can go a long way and bring glory to God.
The key is to live our lives in such a way that everything we do brings glory to God, understanding that the gifts and resources we have were given to us by God in the first place.
The Blessings of Serving God
The deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt as recorded in scripture is one of the most amazing Bible stories. God stretched out His arm over Egypt in a most amazing display his might and awesome power while also securing deliverance from bondage for the Israelite’s.
We notice also that the central reason God gave for demanding their release was so they could serve Him. In Exodus 4, we see the first instance of this:
“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” – Exodus 4:22-23
This demand is repeated severally in Exodus 4 through Exodus 12 as God unleashed plague after plague upon Egypt. It finally culminated in the tenth and final plague where God killed the firstborn son in every Egyptian home just as he has threatened.
These are some of the blessings of serving God that we learn from the deliverance of Israel from Egypt:
- God is personal about those that serve Him and He will go to any length to secure their deliverance and preservation. All nations that heard what God did to Egypt because of Israel acknowledged that God was the almighty God and that Israel was His people.
- God always puts a distinction between those that serve Him and those that do not serve Him. Starting from Exodus 7, we see that as God sent each plague on the Egyptians, he exempted the Israelites from suffering like them. When the swarms of flies came, Goshen; where the Israelites lived was exempted (Exodus 8:22). The same thing happened with the death of Egyptian cattle (Exodus 9:4-6), the hail (Exodus 9:26), darkness (Exodus 10:23) and the death of all Egyptian firstborn (Exodus 12:29-30).
The Word of God also contains other blessings and promises for serving God. For example, in Exodus 23:
“And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.” – Exodus 23:25
God promises that if we will serve Him, He will bless our bread and water, keep us healthy and keep us fruitful in our bodies and in all that concerns us. He also promises us long life when he says the number of thy days I will fulfill. This means He, God will fulfill the number of our days.
Anointed to Serve
Several blessings and promises are tied to serving God. As we saw earlier, serving God in Church is an important aspect of service. However, it is not the only way we can serve Him. God ultimately wants our entire lives to be a service to Him; that is when we are in Church, at work, at home and everywhere else.
In Acts 1, Jesus at His ascension told the disciples that they after they had received the Holy Spirit, they would be empowered as His witnesses.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” – Acts 1:8
One of the reasons God sent the Holy Spirit was so He can empower us to be true servants or witnesses of God. If you desire the help of the Holy Spirit to serve God, please pray this prayer:
Dear Lord, I thank you for the blessings available to me through Service to you and your Kingdom. I ask that you empower me to serve you with everything that I am and all that I have in Jesus name. I also ask that the blessings associated with serving you become mine from now on in Jesus name. Thank you Lord. Amen.
It should also be mentioned that if you are not Born Again, you cannot serve God acceptably. Only by the service Jesus Christ did for us by dying and rising again on the third day for us are we justified. As the Bible says, Now is the time for your Salvation. Please visit our Salvation Message page to surrender your life to Christ. Once you do, your service to God will produce the blessings God has promised in scripture.
If you would like to share your thoughts or comments on this subject, please leave a comment below. Also, if you have a prayer request or testimony, you can share them here. We would like to agree with you in prayer or thank God for the testimony He has given you.
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God bless you richly!
David Adeniji is the Founder and President of The Behold File, a teaching ministry founded in 2003. The Behold File provides a platform through which the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of men to see Jesus so they can be changed to be like him.
Comments 1
so beautiful